1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to outdoor cooking equipment and, more particularly, is directed toward a lighted cooking barbecue tongs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Barbecues are a tradition enjoyed by groups and families throughout the United States throughout the year and a high number of households own outdoor grills.
Barbecues typically take place in late afternoon or evening around the time when an evening meal is normally served. Since barbecuing is conducted outdoors with the activity continuing after dusk, lighting must be provided to illuminate the area where the grill is located. Floodlights, flashlights and the like are used to provide general illumination of the area.
These prior art practices, while providing general lighting of the patio area, fail to adequately illuminate the food itself as it is being barbecued on the grill. Thus, the sense of sight that is crucial to monitoring and controlling any cooking task is typically hindered in outdoors barbecuing because of inadequate lighting, with the result that the success or failure of the barbecue is often left to chance. As a result, the person performing the barbecuing task has to do a lot of guessing as to whether or not the food, typically meat, has been cooked the desired degree with the resultant effect on taste and appearance.
Consequently, a need exists for an easy and convenient way in which to illuminate the food while it is being barbecued without requiring the use of electrical cords and expensive outdoor lighting fixtures.
A number of devices have been used to attempt to solve this problem. U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,761 issued Jun. 11, 1991 discloses a lighted cooking fork having an elongated hand grip and a hollow interior cavity for receiving and supporting an electric battery and a hand switch to activate electrical energy to a light bulb mounted in a light socket. The holder accessory also has a utensil socket and a light socket disposed in a collar mounted at a forward end of the hand grip. The utensil socket is mounted offset to the bottom of the hand grip and forward of the light socket for receiving and mounting a coupling end of a shaft of a designated cooking utensil which can be a fork, spatula, knife, or brush. The light socket is mounted about the longitudinal axis of the hand grip and positions the light bulb to direct a beam of light along the longitudinal axis of the hand grip and toward the working end of the utensil so as to illuminate the food at the working end of the utensil.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,517 issued on Oct. 12, 1999 is directed to a lighted barbecue tool for allowing a person who is grilling outdoors to see at night. The device includes a barbecue implement having an elongated handle portion and a food handling portion. A removable pressure activated light source is mounted to the elongated handle portion of the barbecue tool as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4. A constant pressure is placed on the switch to maintain illumination. It is noted in the patent specification that other barbecue tools can be used such as a spatula, tongs and brush.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,253 issued Jan. 23, 1990 is directed to a mechanically motorized portable skewer/flashlight assembly comprising a housing and a flashlight structure carried by the housing which serves as a handle for the skewer. The assembly also includes a motor driven telescopic rod and a food-receiving tip. The motor may have an audio source of advertising and/or music.
Other known prior art for illuminated tools include U.S. Pat. No. 2,666,843 issued Jan. 19, 1954; U.S. Pat. No. 3,370,163 issued Feb. 20, 1968; U.S. Pat. No. 3,510,643 issued May 5, 1970; U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,376 issued May 17, 1994; U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,698 issued Oct. 19, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,319 issued Mar. 17, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,654 issued Jul. 13, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 6,099,138 issued Aug. 8, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,296,365 issued Oct. 2, 2001 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,419,371 issued Jul. 16, 2002.